Hammer of Dawn Strikes
The Hammer of Dawn Strikes was an orbital Tyran/COG targeted attack against the Locust Horde in occupied territories across Sera. The decision to use weapons of mass destruction was a difficult one for Prescott and his military advisers, since all of them had family outside of Jacinto Plateau. However, it was the only way to deny the Locust any more human military technology and resources. Order of Events Fall of Ostri After the fall of Ostri, under the leadership of Premier Deschenko, a retreat was ordered to Pelles.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 53 The newly elected Chairman Richard Prescott realized the remainder of the COG nations could not look past their own borders (except for the South Islands) for help.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 52-53 Chairman Prescott decided he must go back on everything the late Chairman David Prescott believed in and had Attorney General Milon Audley draw up the papers to enact the Fortification Act, and requested his cabinet and Gen. Salaman, Col. Hoffman, and Adam Fenix to decide on a timeline for the retreat to Jacinto Plateau.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 65 The Debate With less than a month for the nation of Tyrus to survive, Chairman Prescott announced his plan to his advisors. They reminded him that the Hammer of Dawn strike was not tactical, but strategic in nature.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 67 The news did not sit well with Adam Fenix, knowing he would kill his fellow countrymen and countless other millions across Sera, but Prescott surprised Adam when he told them they were going to evacuate every citizen they could into Ephyra city within a three-day deadline.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 69 Gen. Salaman reported that the Locust might learn of the evacuation and either retreat or speed up their offensive into Tyrus. So only Tyran Gears were evacuated into the safe-zone, including areas from Zone Three-Alpha.Gears of War:Jacinto's Remnant pg 130 In regards to Adam Fenix's "ethical" disagreement with the plan, an enraged Col. Hoffman, who was recommended to eliminate all the civilians from Aspho Point (by Adam Fenix, no less) to prevent the UIR from building another Hammer of Dawn, reminded Adam that he built the Hammer of Dawn and that many men and women lost their lives to capture it.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 70 Adam and Hoffman debated on how much of humanity would have to die to "save" the COG, what the Hammer was built for, and reminded them how both humans and Locust would be killed off from the Hammer of Dawn, from instantiation to after-effect from particle debris in the atmosphere and water contamination. Adam had one alternative plan, but no time to launch it,Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 71 leaving only the Hammer of Dawn strike as the only viable option on the table. After Prescott's military advisory agreed to his plan, he brought in his Cabinet to let them in on his decision. Not a single one had a problem with the Fortification Act, but almost all objected to virtually destroying the entire planet. The cabinet, however, had no real say in the matter, only having the "luxury" of finding out before the public.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 142 After the cabinet members had been dismissed, Adam followed Richard to his office and revealed his alternative plan to sink key cities, which would result in the flooding of the Hollow.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 146 Unfortunately, the plan would ask for too much time, time that, Prescott felt, neither Tyrus nor the rest of humanity had. Unable to convince Prescott, Fenix requested the Chairman to at least rescue his son, who was still outside the security line, which the Chairman agreed to do.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 147 The Hammer is Deployed After the three day evacuation, 33rd Day of Bloom, the Hammer of Dawn was deployed. While it was normally the Duty Tactical Officer's job to fire the weapon, Prescott decided to take that burden upon himself and personally pressed the two buttons that fired the Hammer of Dawn. At that point, Sera was ultimately destroyed; everywhere but Jacinto Plateau was completely burned to ashes. Among the dead were possibly Colonel Hoffman's wife, Margaret, and her sister, Natalie, who couldn't make it back in time, along with untold, countless millions of others. Aftermath In the aftermath of the Hammer strike on Sera, the entire planet succumbed to massive environmental damage, caused by raging firestorms that swept across the landscape. The air was filthy and clogged with debris for weeks. It took five days for enough of the debris to settle for sunlight to filter through. Entire cities were completely leveled. Massive firestorms caused damage for kilometers. Forests were burned and exploding chemical plants seeded massive pollution into the ground and air that would linger for decades, if not centuries. All of the Locust on the surface were presumably killed, but the ones underground, naturally, survived. It took the Lightmass Bombing and the flooding of the Hollow (ironically, the alternate plan Adam Fenix had recommended) to end most of the Locust threat. The ultimate effect of the Hammer of Dawn strike was the creation of an area called the Char, a vast landscape where human bodies were still intact from the fires that had flash-fried them, little more than statues of solidified ash. The event, having caused destruction, caused those who survived the Hammer strikes to become Stranded, who would loathe the COG for all the destruction and pain they had caused. Many Stranded groups would be hostile whenever they dealt with the COG, especially in areas such as Char where Aaron Griffin's group of Stranded were notoriously hostile to all visitors, especially COG. Due to this event, following the end of the Lambent Pandemic and reconstruction of Sera, First Minister Anya Stroud, having been in the Hammer of Dawn control room when the strikes occurred, permanently shut down the Hammer of Dawn system and banned it from ever being reactivated again. Her eventual successor, Mina Jinn, continued to uphold Anya's proclamation as she too had witnessed the Hammer strikes and knew that it caused more COG deaths then the Locust, Lambent and Swarm combined. Despite this, the Hammer of Dawn was reactivated to deal with the Swarm threat in 42 A.E. References Category:Battles Category:COG military victories Category:Events